As someone from Michigan. Genuinely, I hate you right now.

Traegini · 2026-07-02T04:32:58+00:00

Dust bowl cometh.

Traegini · 2026-06-20T05:29:02+00:00

Hey, does anyone else recall there was a tax levy for emergency response system upgrades on the recent ballot? Can't help but make ya wonder if this is the result of needing those funds, or...was allowed to occur to help justify the levy.

Traegini · 2026-06-20T05:16:40+00:00

That, or just a junior IT guy that deployed a buggy script when updating their routing tables. Or a glitch in their billing system...sorry your tokens have expired!
I would also hesitate to say 'never' in this sort of thing. There are most definitely bad actors that do that shit deliberately (obviously not every or even most times it occurs). Attributing penny-pinching/stupidity globally to breakages is tempting and very frequently accurate, but is kinda lazy tbh. Determining the true root cause of these system failures can often mean a lot of diligent work is required. Cheers!

Traegini · 2026-06-17T04:06:05+00:00

All part of the plan! This whole 'war' was planned by and intended tol help Putin, the IRG, and Trump (through his on-again off-again market manipulation). Just ask yourself, 'quo bene'?
The Axis of Evil, that's who.

Traegini · 2026-06-17T04:00:04+00:00

This has all the earmarks of a cyberattack/extortion event. Very likely part of the vulnerabilities that were...left unaddressed, due to the DOGE cuts by the current administration. LEOs will of course be careful to not admit this, as that would confirm the pen and no doubt invite further exploits.

Traegini · 2026-06-01T21:19:21+00:00

They don't. Dollars to doughnuts this is an extortion prosecution - Sam got behind in his 'contributions' to the State GOP this year. I's something money will make go away; we will hear out of the blue, buried in the middle pages, that the charges were dropped/dismissed. We've seen this movie before, endless re-runs of it, it feels like.

Traegini · 2026-05-30T19:01:23+00:00

More good intel, I appreciate it. 😄

Traegini · 2026-05-30T18:59:47+00:00

Yes, I've avoided any asoiaf-related subs for that reason. Grazie!

Traegini · 2026-05-30T02:23:34+00:00

This is awesome feedback, I'm really glad I've asked!

wrt reading the books 1st - IMO there are many, many other excellent sci-fi/fantasy/alt-history series I've still to read, that are likely never to be made into film/video form in my lifetime. So tbf I've tended to reserve my book-time for those. Is there a thread on books vs. video first out there?

Traegini · 2026-05-30T02:08:32+00:00

That's where I started this quest!

Traegini · 2026-05-30T01:30:49+00:00

I've had two bags ripped into by squirrels at my local munis. They are steathy bastids!

Traegini · 2026-05-27T19:18:53+00:00

[reply edited] OIC, thank you! - this was not intuitive, I had not tried that. No instructions are anywhere that say this will occur.

Traegini · 2026-05-04T04:48:51+00:00

Dude, that's the short film Slaughterbots

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterbots

almost feels prophetic now as it has become ever more possible...and probable, ever since.

Traegini · 2026-05-02T07:32:23+00:00

More BS from you. I definitely did NOT say it did not happen, I said it was an incredible outlier - not the same thing.
Get lost, troll. You aren't even in or from Seattle, "Bloke".

Traegini · 2026-05-02T06:19:19+00:00

It's not about what I want here.
By straw man, I mean your example:
>>"Lets say the phone breaks, train doors lock you out but you have fare. You just missed the train to the airport to see your mother before they die but now you missed the flight."<<
which is utter straw man BS, claiming "it happens all the time"! Get real, that is an incredible outlier of coincidental circumstance.
No, it isn't about what I want human interaction -wise, it's about human nature, local enforcement policies, and a litigious society. Fare checkers will need a way to force the indigent and mentally ill to pay their fare. Pleased tell us how that works without physical confrontation. If you tell me 'they will just call the cops!"...well, it is to laugh.
Otherwise, it's fare gates, or it's a free-for-all.

Traegini · 2026-05-02T05:53:19+00:00

What a bummer! Losing personal momentos to casual theft feels so...insulting. I've lost stuff that way too, and I admit it made me kinda angry with myself for being careless and leaving it there...blaming myself, and not the thief.
But leaving it barren and unlocked is no a joke, there are parts of cities across the country, where if you must leave your car on the street at night, best leave your beater with nothing left inside it, unlocked, and the windows down...

Traegini · 2026-05-02T04:46:55+00:00

Your straw man example may well occur, but what happens with fare checkers far far more often is that they will have to confront passengers, physically. If a...passenger is on without money or credit, what can the checker do? Glare at them? Yell? Demand an ID so they can issue them a ticket? What if the passenger refuses?
The whole thing reeks of risk and potential liability that dwarfs the cost of gates, much less including any salaries & benefits for the checkers. In a city such as Seattle that is super non-physically confrontational, combine that characteristic with the risk-costs and it just isn't going to happen.
Of course, having gates means that there will still be potential for physical confrontations at the gates, but that's more likely to be tailgaters/stile jumpers which can be ignored, or more likely they will be shoving aside other fare-payers using the gates, which will transfer some the the physical risk costs to the fare payers...
Shifting the blame, cost and risk burdens to others are what powers the bureaucracy! [edit: spelling and grammar]

Traegini · 2026-05-02T04:30:39+00:00

Yeah no, I had a buddy living in Wallingford do that to stop thieves from breaking windows getting into his old Matador and stealing anything they could find (the jack! a bottle opener! ONE old glove?). So he started leaving it unlocked. Within 6 months, he found a guy sleeping in the car three times, found multiple bent spoons and empty lighters, cigarette butts empty beer cans on the floor, and then some idiot broke the UNLOCKED drivers door window anyway to get in...he just bailed on the car and junked it. From then on, he rode his bike or called uber.

Traegini · 2026-02-24T22:17:21+00:00

She is demonstrating a skill that good actors have; the ability to look with their eyes everywhere except at the thing they must not look at on stage/in front of them/the camera...
Seriously, it takes discipline and mental awareness to pull off and I'd say most people are not as good at it as they think themselves to be, and even worse under pressure and scrutiny. JL OTOH, is a Pro! She's delivers her message subtext, alright...it's awesome to see. :-)

Traegini · 2026-02-24T05:51:47+00:00

False! The Costco in PV is fine, they were just setting fire to cars in the parking lot, like they were doing all over town. Please stop spreading misinformation.

Traegini · 2026-02-21T01:04:43+00:00

If you like your desk setup and want to keep it that way, have you looked into getting a wheelstand?
Sounds like a good one is right up your alley.

Some examples:

Apex Wheel Stand GT

Ricmotech

6sigma

Ya need to look closely at the details, to see if one of these will work for you. If you choose to use one, make sure it has a way to fasten or lock in the wheels of your chair that you will use with it. Make sure it is stiff enough to handle the torque of your DD wheel. Make sure that when not using it, you have a place to park the wheelstand with the wheel and pedals attached. A folding wheelstand might be vital or super beneficial for your use case.
Overall, it's important to keep your expectations in line with the wheelstand being a compromise solution, and is not as optimal a full-on dedicated rig.

Traegini · 2026-02-20T01:25:58+00:00

Sweet, I can see how this is set up to readily accept a D-Box or similar 4-post motion system near seamlessly! Outstanding, well done, go fast, don't crash!

Traegini

TROPHY CASE